


Zero Plus Zero

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21813964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "So one theme I’ve seen frequently is how Jack is desperate for physical contact, but is too ashamed/insecure to bring it up or initiate contact himself. What I’d like is that, with a bit of an extra twist.Jack ends up going to Pitch for touch, instead of any of the Guardians. Pitch obliges, but instead of being understanding, he uses the situation to verbally torment Jack, playing on his shame and emphasizing the ‘guilty’ part of guilty pleasure. (Bonus points if Pitch at least partially convinces Jack he’s not good enough for the Guardians.)Focus on Jack’s emotions throughout are a must, and I’d greatly prefer if things were kept non-sexual."The blackice tag seems a bit odd for this one, because they’re not sexually involved and they don’t even like each other that much, but their relationship is very close here. Creepy cuddling ahoy!Pitch is most certainly feeding off of Jack’s insecurities, even if he doesn’t realize it. He’s also extremely envious of Jack, and a liar. This is an early step in a very difficult re-forming OT6, or so I wrote it.
Relationships: Jack Frost/Pitch Black
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49
Collections: Blackice Short Fics, Read





	Zero Plus Zero

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/11/2015.

“So,” Pitch whispers, his voice a hiss and a croon at the same time, “things still haven’t been going so well with the Guardians, have they? I suppose it was inevitable that they’d reach that point in their cozy little circle. The point where there was no room for someone like you.”  
  
Jack leans against Pitch’s shoulder, his cheek resting against the oddly cool fabric of his robe. It feels almost as if there’s not even anyone alive within it. Maybe that’s why he lets Pitch talk. So that his chest will move with his breath, and Jack won’t feel like he’s sought out the touch of something dead.  
  
“It’s so obvious, isn’t it,” Pitch says as he carefully cards his spindly fingers through Jack’s hair. “You see the way they touch each other, so causally, so meaninglessly, and you _know_. You know you’ll never be part of that ag—you know you’ll never, ever be part of that. You know that it means too much to you. How could you ask Tooth to embrace you again, when it would set your dead heart racing? How could you ask that, when you know it means only as much as an absent-minded smile to her? The Man in the Moon might have made you a Guardian, but all of them have known each other for centuries longer than you’ve existed. You’re barely more than a child to them, of course. They wouldn’t be pleased to know how much each touch means to you, all your incoherent longing, all your body’s foolish reactions.”  
  
Jack’s cheeks burn with shame and embarrassment. Pitch knows he doesn’t want sex, and Pitch was clear that he wouldn’t give Jack that, anyway—that was clarified the first time he showed up here. But as he’s held close, as he’s gently caressed by hands that feel like they care, more touch than he’s had in centuries, the permanent youth of his body insists on making itself known in the most mortifying way. Pitch doesn’t mention it every time, and Jack hates it when he does. He wants to back away, to snap at Pitch, but…one of Pitch’s hands cradles the back of his head; one of Pitch’s arms wraps around Jack’s waist, and he shows no signs of pulling away. Jack never wants to give him a reason to. And truly, that’s why he lets Pitch talk, isn’t it?  
  
And of course, he is still talking. “What would Sandy say if he felt you like this, cuddled up next to him on his cloud? Well, he wouldn’t _say_ anything, but do you imagine you’d be invited back? Doesn’t that seem incredibly inappropriate, Jack? Innocent little Sandy…”  
He gently rubs Jack’s back. “And it’s really anyone’s guess as to whether you’ll gain any self-control as time passes. Especially as it’s already been three hundred years, and you’re not going to get used to their touches, are you? You can’t ask, and it’s doubtful they’ll notice that you’re avoiding the ones you’re offered. They’ll just assume that’s how you are. Dreadful, isn’t it? That you’ll have to keep coming to me for this? I know you hate it, Jack, but, as both of us are contemptible, you know it’s the only way. You’ll never catch up. You’ll never fit seamlessly in. The memories they have of each other will always be more than those they have of you, and so many of those are ones they can’t share—won’t share with you.” The hand on Jack’s back moves up to massage his shoulders. “And since you’ll never get close, isn’t it better that you come here? To stave off the desperation that the Guardians would surely see. You’ll never get close enough where you might have to admit that you’ve been here.”  
  
It was true, Jack thought. It was all true. He’d rather have, he’d rather… _Tooth’s enthusiastic hug, Tooth’s fingers in his mouth, North lifting him off the ice, North kissing him on the cheeks, Bunny playfully bumping his shoulder, the soft touch of dreamsand_ …what was wrong with him, that he wanted so much? That he wanted so much that he had already sabotaged his chances of talking to the other Guardians? He couldn’t talk to anyone now, now that he had gone to Pitch. He sighed, knowing Pitch could feel it, but not caring. He had tried to argue with Pitch, the first time he had come here. Maybe he would have even won the argument if he had left instead of walking into Pitch’s open arms.  
  
But here he was. An afterthought Guardian, who no one noticed enough, still, to realize he was disappearing into Pitch’s lair for hours at a time.  
  
And the thing was, he wasn’t even angry at the Guardians for it. Now that he was a Guardian himself, he understood just how busy they could be—and they were busier now, ever since Jack had reminded them that maybe they ought to spend more time with the children they protected. He knew that regularly meeting would be too much, with all their other work, and he was glad he hadn’t suggested it, especially once he understood, based on some random meetings, that they would most likely think them unnecessary and a sign of strange dependence on Jack’s part. He was glad he asked so little of them, but he couldn’t help but want and need—well, even more now than he had.  
  
Three hundred years might not be that long for them, but it was most of Jack’s existence. Over that time loneliness had eaten such a hole in him that he wasn’t sure it could ever be filled. He wasn’t sure if it was right to hope that any one person, or even a group of people, could fill it. Pitch wouldn’t be able to, not even if he wanted to, not in these secret meetings. And Pitch—well, the only thing he was _really_ giving was touch. But he was far, far better than nothing, which was what Jack would allow himself otherwise.  
  
If the only substance they had was that of two voids overlapping, Jack would make do with that. It was sort of like what he wanted—and as close as he was likely to get to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Tags from Tumblr:
> 
> #don't worry the Guardians are noticing something's off#Jack's and Pitch's assessments of them are both inaccurate


End file.
